Halfmetal Guardian: War of Broken Memories
by Terra Alchemist
Summary: Six years after the defeat of Ultimus and the Homunculi, Rivant declares an allout war on Amestris in the form of a Alchemist and Guardian battle royale. Roy is shipwrecked and it's up to his son to defend Amestris. Second in the Halfmetal Series.
1. Maes, Leroy, and Ilia Mustang

**HALFMETAL GUARDIAN**

**WAR OF BROKEN MEMORIES**

"You'll come back soon, won't you, Father?" Leroy asked, trying to keep his hair from swinging into his eyes as the wind gusted around them. Ilia was at his shoulder waving to their parents from the dock and Maes was running down the plank after hugging his parents and bidding them farewell, the little fox at his heels. Roy leaned on his arms on the ship and grinned down at the three of them: Leroy and Ilia, now both twenty-one, and Maes, fourteen. "I'm sure I'll be back soon, it's only a meeting in Falcona after all. I won't be gone long. Besides, I've got your mom to protect me, don't I?"

"Come back soon, okay Dad? Bring us something back from Falcona!" Maes yelled, and Roy waved to signal that he had heard. Riza leaned forward and put her arms around Roy's waist from behind him, chin resting in the crook of his neck. "Bye Mom!" Maes waved and Riza waved back as the ship's horn blew. "Take care of Amestris while I'm gone, Leroy!" Roy called,hands cupped around his mouth, and Leroy assured him that he would.

Maes grinned and waved one last time before turning to his older brother and sister. "So are we going back home, or back toEast HQ first?" he asked, bouncing along as they walked down the road. "I thought I'd drop by HQ, see how everyone's doing and all. You know, check on Uncle Havoc."

"Okay! So let's hurry, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon!"

"Alright alright, Maes, HQ won't run anywhere!"

"But there's so much we can do! When do you think Dad'll get to Falcona?"

"Probably not until well into nextweek," Ilia said. "Falcona's a long ways away."

"But still... I'm gonna send Dad a letter, I wanna know all about what it's like over there!"

"All about it? I don't think he could tell you everything..."

"Yeah he could! Dad's the Flame-Arm Alchemist, the Fuhrer of Amestris, the best dad in the world, the best guy there is! He can do anything, especially with Mom's help."

"And what are you in a hurry for, anyways Maes?"

"To see Uncle Fullmetal of course! C'mon, we'll visit Uncle Havoc and the others and then we have to see Uncle Fullmetal!"

"If you insist," Leroy said, giving in, as he opened the door of the car and waited for Maes to get in the back. He sighed and looked in the back. "Do you want to tell me the color of the lights this time, Maes?"

"You bet!" Maes said enthusiastically. It was a bit odd to have a colorblind big brother, but it was okay.With his help, Leroy could drive through the streets without actually passing a stoplight.They stopped at HQ and got out of the car. Maes hopped into the driver's seat and through Leroy's door, not wanting to wait for Leroy to come around and open the door to the backseat. He raced up to the doors and flung them open.

"Hey everybody!"

The office said hello and Maes ran off to find Jean Havoc, who was currently buried underneath a rather large stack of paperwork. After signing another paper, Colonel Havoc looked up from the papers. "Oh, hello Maes," he said. His mouth was actually lacking a cigarette, his daughter finally having convinced him to give up and kick the habit. Luna was at his shoulder and gave him another stack to sign, and Havoc sighed. "Now I know why your old man wanted to skip out on signing these things so badly, sheesh. I can imagine he only gets more now that he's Fuhrer."

"With your help of course, Uncle Havoc! Dad couldn'tve done so much without your help." Havoc waved him off.

"Ah, cut out the flatteries,you little rogue.Where's your brother and sister?"

"They're coming, I ran ahead. Dad left to Falcona."

"He did? Already? That's too bad, I wanted to say good-bye before he left..."

"Aw, you'll see him anyways. Mom went with him too, and he's letting Leroy be his stand-in while he's gone if you don't want to."

Havoc sighed and scratched his head. "Nah, let your brother do it. He's certainly more equipped for it than I am. Luna, can you pass me that sheet over there? Thanks, kiddo." He signed another sheet and put it into the tray.

"Tell your siblings I'm fine, they don't need to worry about things here."

"O-kay!" Maes said, running off.

"And don't you worry," Havoc called after him, "I'm sure your parents'll be fine!"

* * *

Roy smiled as the sea breeze hit his face. It wasn't so bad being out in the middle of the ocean, not as bad as he'd thought it would be. Riza smiled and rested her chin in the crook of his neck again. "Seasick yet?" she asked, arms tightening around his stomach. He turned his head a bit to look at his shoulder and shook his head. "Not yet," he said, nuzzling her gently. "What about you?" 

"I'm fine."

He looked back at the sea again as the vessel cut cleanly through the water, marveling at it's brilliance and clearness, and it's coldness. He grimaced at the last thought as some water smacked his face, and he wiped it off with the back of his hand. Six years, six years of peace and counting. He hoped it would last forever, but he knew in his heart it probably wasn't possible. He sat down on the deck, making sure his arms were hooked securely in a rail near the cabins, and let Riza rest her head on his chest. He supposed he couldn't deny he was getting old, but that didn't mean he couldn't age with grace. But... he ran his hand through his hair until Riza did it for him. Not one gray hair! He thought he'd have millions by now, but maybe stress didn't work as well on him. Riza complained of a few here and there, but for the most part her hair was still a bright blonde; as if you could see a few grays and whites in that sea of fair; Riza got off easy.

He was still alive, still kicking, and that in itself was something to be grateful for. He hoped his meeting with the king of Falcona went well. If it did... it would mean... the first time there would be any global peace, it would be a mark to go down in history. His era of leadership would be the first to experiance blissful, sacred peace. The crew and other passengers bound for Falcona were on the same ship, bustling around doing whatever they wanted, or throwing up over the side. Most were Falconans, best characterized by their hooked noses, which Roy thought was just the slightest bit funny. They seemed to be a jolly people, always laughing and smiling, yet still deadly serious. They were an interesting bunch.

Riza shifted slightly on his chest and he stroked her hair gently, not eager to wake her now that she had fallen asleep. He could hope for the best... like Maes had always done... hope for the... best... He drifted off into sleep aswell.

He was shaken awake by a tremor on the boat, the smell of smoke in his nose and screams in his ears, and also... a droning noise, something overhead. He looked up and around to find, to his horror, that half the ship had been blown apart. Blood coated timber and people screamed for family members, othersscreaming for those who had been lost. Riza held onto him tightly, afraid, and looked into his eyes. "What do we do?" she whispered. Another blast wracked thevessel and Roy held onto her as well, burying his face into her shoulder, and her likewise, as another section of the ship was blown to bits. The droning dulled, and then it was gone.

Unfortunately, so was three quarters of the ship. Whatever was left of it was sinking fast, and Roy nodded to the water, fear apparent in his eyes. He seized a piece of floating wood and he and Riza clung to it for dear life, letting the sea current take them. Then they realized, amidst all of the carnage, a very important, terrible fact.

They were the only ones left alive.

* * *

Hello, hello, welcome, welcome to Halfmetal Guardian: War of Broken Dreams, the sequel to Halfmetal Alchemist! Once again, it's not required that you read HMA to understand HMG; I'll fill in the gaps for you as best I can. 

-T A


	2. Summoning

**HALFMETAL GUARDIAN**

**WAR OF BROKEN MEMORIES**

****

Roy groaned from his end of the piece of timber next to Riza, and Riza looked at him, up and down, to assess what was wrong. She scooted a bit closer to him, the lower halves of their bodies still submersed in cold salt water, and asked what was wrong. He gritted his teeth and put his head gently onto her shoulder. "I think I got hit by something in my back..." She cocked her head at him. "Lower back, in the water." Her eyes widened and she latched onto the wood securely with one hand, reaching the other hand into the water to feel his lower back where there was indeed an open wound. She thought that it might be about half the size of her palm, and it wasn't closed; it was still bleeding. She couldn't imagine the hell he must be going through, with a wound like that submersed in stinging salt water, but the current continued to pull them along. She kissed his cheek gently. "Try to think about something else," she murmured, and Roy nodded.

Oh he had been thinking of something else this whole time; he had been thinking of sharks. Couldn't sharks smell blood trails, wouldn't he die of blood loss if this thing kept bleeding? Why weren't they being attacked? He could see the shark fins circling slowly behind them, but none of them moved closer to them than ten yards. They were keeping their distance. And if they attacked, he didn't think he could stand to see his beautiful Riza mauled by a shark, God forbid.

She shook his shoulder and pointed up to the sky, where lights were seemingly splashed across the sky, blues, yellows, pinks, purples, reds, greens, oranges... every color imaginable were streaked across the sky, glittering and... flowing... Flowing in the same direction as the current. He didn't know if that was a good omen or a bad one.

* * *

Leroy yawned and stretched in his chair. It had beena week since his father had left for Falcona, an entire week... Maes was hopping up and down, so eager was he to recieve a letter, while Ilia calmly read a book in the big cushion chair next to the floor to ceiling window, conveniantly located close bya fire. It was getting cold out now. "It says here," she read off the page, "That Falcona is an arctic country, covered in snow all-year round save for one month. That one month is used for celebrations in tribute to the royal family and it's houses, which keep heat flowing to all of the cities of Falcona all year. Amazing, isn't it? I wonder how they keep warm if all they have is snow and ice.

"It also says that special ships are required to get to and from Falcona, because the ice layer on the water is almost solid and needs a breaker to destroy. The warmest temperature ever recordedin the southern most tip of Falconais ten times colder than the coldest ever recorded in North City."

"Wow, how do they live?"

"I said that the royal family somehow provides heat to the cities. It doesn't say how, but it does say that rather than alchemy, they rely on something that can be rougly translated as chakra; the offensive implementation of this chakra is usually used by the royal family and it's houses, and is then translated and roughly referred to as Jutsu. They are instructed to learn the languages of Amestris and Rivant, but their primary language is Falconan. It says here that the king of Falcona can speak fluently in every language, and can imitate many different dialects."

"It talks about the royal family, does it? It's a recently published book then," Leroy mused.

"Yes... the king was inaugurated when his wife, the queen, died of an illness fourteen years ago. He does not have any royal blood, but his decisions are just and fair, and the rest of the houses smiled on the decision, marking that he must have been a very good man. It is rare in Falcona for spouses to assume leadership after the King or Queen dies, usually, the title goes to the eldest child.

"They have a single child, a male, who is about twenty-two to date. He's almost our age, Leroy."

"Ahh..."

"He's a bit of an anomaly in Falcona, and many houses wonder if he's of the same disposition and stock of his father, implying that they wonder if he's really his father's son. I wonder why they wonder."

"He might simply be different, either mentally or physically, I'm sure I do not know. We don't keep up with the politics of other countries, and neither do they."

"I suppose so... what are you doing, Leroy?"

"I thought I'd take a quick nap," he said, getting up and stretching. Sure he was twenty-one, but he was staying by his father's side in the mansion to help with all his paperwork, and he was the one to inherit the house anyways. Ilia had already expressed that she didn't want the house too badly, and Maes said he didn't care either way, which had been a relief to Roy. He hadn't wanted to die knowing his three children would fight over family possessions. Ilia sighed and rested the book on the armrest of the chair. "You know you have work to do."

"I'll do it later," he said, trudging up the stairs to find a bed. Ilia sighed from behind him. "You're such a slacker, Leroy."

"And proud of it,too. I think it's only fair that I get to slack, after all the hell we've been through. And-" his idea was cut off as a telephone rang racously downstairs, and he bolted back down to pick it up before Maes did and his bubbly happiness infected whoever was on the phone. He picked it up.

"Fuhrer Roy Mustang's home, Stand-In Fuhrer Leroy Mustang speaking."

"Ah! Leroy! I'm so glad you picked up! Honestly, why am I always the bearer of bad news?" Colonel Havoc hissed to Fuery and the others next to him. They shushed him and frantically told him to get on with it.

"Leroy! The ship your parents were on..."

Leroy's heart sank.

"It was completely destroyed, some of the wreckage washed up today. We haven't found their bodies, if there are any," he added quickly, "And they might still be alive..."

"So the chances are that Mom and Dad are dead?" Maes stopped his current activity of bothering Ilia and the two of them stared at him.

"Yes... I'm sorry Leroy... and one more thing."

"Go ahead."

"Ren Rivant wants a word with the Fuhrer of Amestris, next week, and he doesn't seem friendly."

"Tell him I accept his invitation."

"It wasn't an invitation. It was a summon, and you're obligated to go as a power of equal rank in Amestris. I don't think his intentions bode well, Leroy."

"I've got it, I'll be careful."

He put the phone down into the reciever and looked out the window as the sun started to set.

"Faris..."

* * *


	3. ThreeQuartersMetal Alchemist?

**HALFMETAL GUARDIAN**

**WAR OF BROKEN MEMORIES**

3: 3/4Metal Alchemist?

Two automail legs thudded heavily on the quiet cobblestone road through the small town, their owner ignoring the stares he was attracting, the quiet whispers and the nudges, the fearful looks atthe sword resting in the crook of his shoulder, blade gleaming red as the afternoon sunlight hit it and reflected, also bouncing off his automail arm. His face was covered up to right below his nose by the collar of his cloak and his amber eyes stayed trained on the road in front of him, a curtain of blonde bangs shading his face.

Edward Elric II, the new Fullmetal Alchemist, was heading to Rivant, and not for the military. He walked up to the docks in silence, a boarding ticket in his hand for a ship to Rivant, and the rest of his journey brooked no further disturbance.

* * *

_"You're going to Rivant? But why, Junior?" His father had asked. Ed had only shrugged and put his hands on his automail knees and stared into the fireplace by which his mother was sitting, quietly wringing her hands, worried. _

_"Ed... since when did you have automail legs?" she asked, and Ed looked up into her dark eyes, then averted his own. _

_"An accident," he said. "I lost my legs."_

_"What kind of accident?"_

_"A train," he lied._

* * *

He was on the ship by the afternoon and indoors; his automail would rust in seawater very quickly, and he did not want to run the risk rusting before he reached Rivant. Who knew how little automail mechanics there were in Rivant? And besides, the only ones he trusted with his automail repairs were his aunt Winry and cousin Alley.

* * *

_He gritted his teeth in pain as the after effects of the surgery started to kick in, and Al and Alley held his hands through the entire thing as he writhed and held back screams that threatened to rip his throat apart. His legs were on fire; what was left of them, anyway. The connectors had just been put in, and Winry was already designing the legs that would be fit in to replace the ones he had lost._

_Later, Winry came by with a plate of food and he looked up at her. "Aunt Winry... don't tell my father."_

_"But Ed... they deserve to know."_

_"Please.. I'm begging you, don't say a word to him... Tell him I lost them in a train accident."_

_"If you really want... alright, Ed." She had had her doubts, but if this was what her nephew wanted.. then so be it. _

_"Don't tell Uncle Alphonse either... or my mother. I... after this is over, I have to go."_

_"Go where?"_

_"To find my own answers."_

* * *

By night of the third day at sea, Rivant began to swim into view and Ed retreated back inside, satisfied that he was almost there. He rested his arms on the pommel of his sword, the point buried into the wood floor. Now, now he had a reason. Now he would truly become a guardian, a guardian for Rivant.

* * *

Vergo looked up as Faris came back into the room looking worried, and his hand tightened on his automail arm. He had had a defect at birth, and had been born short of one arm. His father, now deceased, had constructed an automail limb, the most technologically advanced automail of Amestris, though his arm's function was more for defense than offense. "What's wrong?" he asked, and Faris sat down heavily in a cushioned chair, chin in her hands. 

"What does Ren think he's doing...? And where is Rohan?"

"I'm sure I don't know, Faris. What is he doing?"

"He's calling the Fuhrer of Amestris for a meeting... but... for what purpose? I do not think it is for a friendly meeting... Ren is... different now. He keeps looking at giant map of the country, almost hungrily... it scares me, Vergo. Do you think he's planning a hostile takeover?"

"The Fuhrer of Amestris would not just give over Amestris, no matter how good the terms. The only option would be a hostile and bloody takeover."

"That's... terrible..."

"That's an understatement," Vergo snorted, polishing his automail. He stopped for a moment, then shook his head. "But anyway, whatever he's doing we really have no say in it, do we? Besides, my uncle can fend for himself, he's not a baby. But that doesn't give me any inclination to go back to Amestris. I have nothing to go back to anyway."

* * *

Leroy soon found himself boarding his own ship bound for Rivant. Maes and Ilia waved him good-bye from the docks, Maes looking worried and fidgety. "Leroy! Don't get blown up, okay?" Leroy laughed and leaned on the railing of the ship. 

"Don't worry. I'll try not to. Maes! I'll bring you back a present from Rivant, hear me?"

"Yeah! Okay, just be safe and-"

Leroy didn't get to hear the rest of what he said because it was drowned out by the loud booming of the ship's horns signalling that they were about to leave the dock. The water churned beneath him and Leroy felt the ship starting to slowly float away from the land, from his home, his country, his charge, Amestris. The rest of the military had also gathered to see him off and he received a hearty salute from Armstrong and a rather worried one from Havoc, and he saluted back, then waved.

He retreated from the railings to his cabin; too long out here would prove to make him covered in salt and seasick. He'd much rather be seasick without the salt, and he picked up a book about Rivant and flipped it open, jolting in surprise when something slipped out of it and fell onto his lap. He picked it up and sighed, relieved, now realizing it was the pendant that Faris had given him all those years before; he thought he'd lost it! He fastened it around his neck securely and leaned back in his creaky wooden chair, his eyes scanning the green wallpapered room lazily. It couldn't have been more than a few couple of feet wide, and it was almost small enough to have his head brushing the ceiling; he was again grateful that his father wasn't _terribly _tall, not like Armstrong.He sighed again, propping his feet up onto a woebegone wooden desk, book propped up on his lap, trying to get used to the rockingmotion of the boat. His father... he hoped he was alright, for Maes's sake if not his. Poor Maes... to have lost two brothers anda sister so suddenly... well, they had only moved away, but it gave him less time to visit, but Maes was strong, he could cope. He hoped he could be strong like Maes too, be strong and cope.

* * *

Roy flinched as a particularly violent wave of water collided with his back, pushing more salt into his already excrutiatingly painful wound. He still wasn't exactly sure how he had gotten it, but he had hypothesized that it might have beena result of a piece of ship slamming into his back while he was shielding Riza. Now he was glad that he had been shielding her; better his back then her face. He sighed softly and rested his chin on the plank, thinking that they had been adrift for entirely too long. These streams of colors, he thought as he looked into the sky, were thoroughly disorienting, and oddly... ominous.

_I'm getting to old for this sort of thing,_ he thought as another shark fin dipped into the water. They were keeping their distance, oddly enough, but he wasn't complaining. He watched Riza, who was fast asleep with a death grip on their plank. How could she sleep when they were afloat who knows where? He squinted and looked as far as he could, and he straightened up; did he see land?

* * *

Queasy and green, Leroy was determined as hell not to open the porthole and throw up as he buried his nose in his book and tried once more to ignore the sloshing and rocking in his stomach. He was just thankful he hadn't eaten anything earlier, otherwise it would not have been so easy to hold down his fort. He could feel a lump rising up in his throat and it took all his willpower to beat it viciously back into his stomach. He groaned and put the book aside, supporting himself just long enough to stagger outside and throw himself onto the guardrails. He needed AIR!

It wasn't very much help; salty stuff had never gone over well with him. It was dark and dusky now, so that meant possibly only another four days left to hold down his lunch, breakfast, and dinner. Geez, he had to maintain some dignity once he hit land; he couldn't just set foot and start throwing up valuable internal organs, which was exactly what he felt like doing. Ugh.

Just four days... he brushed his dark hair out of his eyes. Four days of continuous sickness. Woo-hoo.

* * *

Vergo's temprement had not improved by the next day, no, not at all. If anything, he seemed to become even more violently inclined as the Fuhrer's day of summoning drew closer and closer, as Faris observed when Vergo polished his automail so violently and vigorously that he defeated the purpose of polishing and scratched it. When questioned, he would huffily reply, "Nothing's wrong, just drop it." And she would. For another three hours, which seemed to be the intervals in which he was violently inclined.

Outside of the castle everything seemed to be normal as usual: people were shopping, playing, lounging, laughing, having a good time, working... the usual. But inside the castle things were very different. There seemed to be a constant hushed silence, a flurry of disquieting murmurs surrounding the stand-in King, Ren Rivant, after the disappearance of Rohan Rivant. Faris was also nervous, one brother had seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth while the other had changed completely, it just wasn't natural.

And she didn't like it, didn't like those strange, alien, cold looks that she got from Ren, her dear older brother Ren who had been the favorite of the four-Rohan the eldest, Ren the middle, Baldor the youngest, and Duran who was younger than herself- the Ren who used to play with her and carry her around when she was little.

He had changed overnight and the change was not a good one.


End file.
